From right: Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR presents a plaque and certificate of merit to Customs Area Controller, Tin Can Island Command, Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni during the awards presentation Friday in Abuja.

The Area Controller in charge of the Tin Can Island Port Command of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller Dera Nnadi mni has bagged the special double awards in respect of his superlative revenue collection and infrastructure upgrade, especially workplace transformation at the maiden edition of Comptroller the General’s Awards held Friday in Abuja.

Recall that the Command under Nnadi had as at November 2024 collected a total revenue of N1.125trillion on import duty, which is the highest ever in the 40-year history of the Command. This revenue feat remains a significant leap from the ₦639.7billion collected in the comparative period of 2023. In addition to its successes in revenue generation, the Command has continued to make significant strides in enforcing compliance and tackling smuggling activities, which led to the seizure of large quantities of arms and ammunitions, unregulated pharmaceutical and psychotropic substances and other un-customs goods.

The Command under Comptroller Nnadi had also successfully completed the remodeling of the dilapidated and abandoned Tin Can Island Customs House, built over 40 years ago, which has never undergone any upgrade or maintenance, a feat that has variously been attributed to a combination of quality and transformational leadership, teamwork, stakeholders’ engagement as well as dedication to duty.

It was in the light of these superlative performance in revenue, infrastructure upgrade/workplace transformation and effective and successful anti-smuggling operations that the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, MFR, who recently officially commissioned the newly upgraded Customs House in Lagos, informed stakeholders that he was very impressed with the performance of the CAC and that he would enlist him for an award.

The visibly elated CGC, had while commissioning the remodeled building said: “I want to commend Comptroller Dera Nnadi and all his men for the initiative of getting this done. When he told me about it, I never knew it was such a gigantic project. This is an award-winning project.

Speaking at the event, the Comptroller General, who personally presented the awards, noted that the Comptroller was honoured with the special awards for Workplace Transformation; and a Certificate of Excellence for Distinctive Performance and Commitment to Ideals and Vision of the Service.

Comptroller Nnadi was also celebrated by stakeholders and his colleagues comprising both superiors and juniors, who attested to his transformational leadership, innovative solutions towards ensure efficient trade facilitation.

The CGC said: “The award for the Nigeria Customs Service in 2024, which was supposed to have taken place two weeks ago, will now take place in two days’ time, and as Comptroller General of Customs, we will not forget this project.

 “I made it very clear on assumption of duty that one of my policy thrusts would be collaboration. I have ever since discovered that there is strength in complementing what we do and what we can do for each other.

“All of us bring different attributes to the table, and in a modern organisation, we tap into the strength of each and every one of us. We ensure that we reduce duplication and optimize the resources we can get for maximum objectives.

“We have seen this work out in several ways in the last one year. Our revenue generation is nothing but the product of deliberate collaboration with all our stakeholders. When we get intelligence about things that threaten our security, it is a product of collaboration. I am very, very happy with our officers in all the commands because it is the same story I hear in Apapa, in PTML, in Airport, in Lekki; that we have created an environment that allows us to collaborate and work more effectively with other agencies of government.

“I am indeed very delighted about this. What we are seeing in Tin Can Island Command today is also a product of collaboration. Our stakeholders are now stepping forward to say they can help us improve the quality of our workplace. I am indeed very, very happy that what we have is a demonstration that collaboration pays.

“I acknowledge all of you, stakeholders, who have contributed to delivering this project. We are very happy with you and will continue to extend the frontiers of collaboration—not only in these kinds of spheres but also to deepen them in our operations to ensure that we deliver better service to our country.

Comptroller Nnadi, who spoke shortly after receiving the award, attributed this milestone revenue generation achievement to trade facilitation effort of the officers and men of the Command complemented with effective enforcement and compliance.

While dedicating the achievements recorded and the awards to the officers of the command, described the various feats as a result of teamwork, commitment, focus, and dedication of all the officers of the Command. He further described the award as a call for increased commitment and a challenge to sustain and improve on the pace of work at the command.

The Tin Can Customs -boss, who expressed profound appreciation to the Customs CG for the support given to the Command and the honour bestowed on him, however sought for continuous support from all stakeholders in order to keep the flag flying.

He further urged businessmen and women at the Tin-can Island Port to take advantage of the various trade modernisation initiatives of the Comptroller General to ensure the use of technology at the port, as part of efforts to enhance trade facilitation by promoting paperless port procedures.